


a little push

by kiyala



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 21:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3332888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Courfeyrac and Enjolras have a plan, but Combeferre and Grantaire can see right through it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little push

**Author's Note:**

> The fifth of my seven valentines giveaway fics - for [**angelmoritz**](http://angelmoritz.tumblr.com/)'s prompt: Courfeyrac and Enjolras try to make their respective crushes jealous, but they're actually pretty terrible at it.

"So," Grantaire says, hanging over the back of the couch so that he's speaking right into Combeferre's ear. "I have news."

"Oh?" Combeferre puts his book down so he can listen. It's not often that Grantaire approaches him like this and it's rarer still for him to sound so confident and amused.

"A little bird told me that Courfeyrac's got a thing for you," Grantaire whispers, and continues speaking even as Combeferre freezes up. "I mean—okay, not really a little bird. It's kind of obvious to anyone who's seen the two of you interact."

Combeferre frowns, his tone turning cold. "And what's it to you?"

"Nothing," Grantaire says quickly, already losing some of his earlier confidence. "I just—I don' t know. Thought I'd bring it up, so you know."

The thing is, Combeferre already knows. He's known for a while now and he's not quite sure what to do about it, beyond making it abundantly clear that he feels the same way. So far, that hasn't really been working out for them.

"Grantaire," he calls softly, patting the couch beside him before his friend can slink off.

Sitting down, Grantaire fiddles with his spinner ring for a moment before clearing his throat. "I just figured I'd tell you, in case you were wondering why Courfeyrac and Enjolras are currently engaging in the most aggressive cuddle session I've ever seen. And I say that as someone who's seen Bahorel and Feuilly hug it out after sparring."

Snorting quietly, Combeferre looks over at the single-seater couch that his best friends have squashed themselves into. "I honestly didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Courfeyrac is tactile when he's in a good mood."

"But they were ignoring you earlier to have a conversation with each other," Grantaire points out. "They're trying to make you jealous so that you make a move."

"Oh," Combeferre says with genuine surprise. "I just thought that they were really interested in whatever they were discussing."

"Wow, it's impossible to make you jealous, isn't it?" Grantaire laughs. "Poor Courfeyrac."

"But if he's doing it for the purpose of inciting me to make a move…" Combeferre says, looking over at Courfeyrac and Enjolras again, catching them both watching him before they quickly turn away. "Wow, they're terrible at this. Maybe I should talk to Courfeyrac before he misinterprets my lack of action as me not being interested."

"Enjolras, you give the best hugs," Courfeyrac declares loudly, for everyone to hear. Grantaire snorts quietly and Combeferre has to bite back his own grin.

"On second thought," he decides, "I'll talk to him later. This is kind of adorable."

"I think Combeferre gives better hugs," Grantaire says loudly with laughter in his voice and the rest of their friends laugh too, except for Enjolras, whose expression darkens just a little. _Interesting_ , Combeferre thinks to himself.

They're all at Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta's place for the night. They house smells wonderful, Joly and Musichetta finally emerging from the kitchen, having made enough caramel popcorn to share among all of their friends. Combeferre is constantly impressed by their ability to make enough food for their group, especially when they tend to go through a lot.

The popcorn also means that it's movie time. Combeferre stays on the couch and so does Grantaire as the rest of their friends try to fit on it. It means they're squashed together and Enjolras, still sharing his seat with Courfeyrac, looks less than pleased by this. Combeferre shifts so that he's got a little more space and it brings him shoulder to shoulder with Grantaire, which he supposes is an improvement from having Grantaire nearly in his lap. Judging by Enjolras' expression, he isn't inclined to agree.

They're watching Jurassic Park tonight and Combeferre adores this movie. He has since he was a child, and he's delighted to discover that Grantaire loves it too. As the movie plays, they realise that between the two of them, they can probably quote the entire movie off the top of their heads and they try for a scene, until the rest of their friends shush them. 

Combeferre has always thought of Grantaire as a casual friend, who he sees regularly but doesn't have a particularly strong connection with. Now, that is definitely not the case. They settle for whispering observations back and forth, things that they've missed in their previous watches, or details that they're particularly fond of. It makes Combeferre like Grantaire even more.

By the time the movie's over and the lights are back on, Enjolras is incredibly restless. Grantaire freezes up when he notices, and Combeferre guesses that he must be afraid that Enjolras is annoyed at _him_. Combeferre knows better, but when he places his hand on Grantaire's shoulder to draw his attention, to tell him as much, Enjolras rises to his feet.

"You," he says, striding across the room and standing in front of Grantaire, giving him an accusing look. "I thought you were afraid of Combeferre."

"Uh." Grantaire laughs uneasily, glancing around the room. "Isn't everyone a little afraid of Combeferre?"

This earns him a couple of quiet laughs, but most of their friends are silent, watching Enjolras intently to see where this is going.

"Look, I'm not stealing your friend or anything," Grantaire says hurriedly, raising his hands in front of him. "It's just a stupid dinosaur movie. Okay, I take that back, it's not stupid and it's not _just_ a movie, but you get what I mean, I'm not going to monopolise his time just because we both wish the velociraptors had feathers, jeez. It's just something we have in common, okay?"

"We have things in common," Enjolras says softly, frowning. "You don't… joke about them, or talk to me about them."

Grantaire blinks up at Enjolras in surprise. "What do we have in common?"

Enjolras gives him a panicked look that Combeferre recognises to mean that his mind's gone inconveniently blank. "Things." 

" _Things_ ," Grantaire echoes, frowning.

"You both take Scrabble incredibly seriously," Combeferre points out. "But maybe that's not a good thing to start talking about, because I still remember the screaming match you got into last time you played."

With a sheepish smile, Enjolras holds his hand out to Grantaire. "I'd… like to find things to talk to you about, if you don't mind."

Grantaire pauses as he processes what Enjolras is actually asking for. A smile spreads across his lips as he takes Enjolras' hand. "Yeah. Sure. I'd love to."

They walk away and Combeferre watches them. The rest of their friends spread out around the house, going back to their own conversations, and Combeferre finally turns his attention to Courfeyrac, raising an eyebrow in silent invitation for him to come over. Courfeyrac does, climbing onto the couch and immediately leaning into Combeferre's side. Combeferre wraps an arm around him and watches him closely.

"Grantaire seemed to think that you were trying to make me jealous." 

Courfeyrac immediately goes bright red, and that's all the confirmation Combeferre needs. He laughs softly, pulling Courfeyrac closer against him. 

"You know that I wouldn't begrudge you being physically affectionate with someone else, or spending a lot of time with them," he murmurs. "Regardless of my feelings for you. I'm not looking to hold some sort of exclusive right to your cuddles, and I'm probably a cautionary tale for getting too involved in discussions when they're about particular topics of interest."

"Hold up," Courfeyrac says. "Somewhere in there, it sounded like you said that you have feelings for me."

"I've been trying to say that for months now," Combeferre replies. "Only without actually saying it, which seems to be where I've been going wrong. I like you, in the romantic sense. I'm almost certain you feel the same way."

"I do," Courfeyrac replies, smiling. 

"Okay." Combeferre nods. "Good."

"Good," Courfeyrac agrees, resting his head on Combeferre's shoulder and taking his hand. "Be my boyfriend."

"Done," Combeferre says easily. "Go to the science museum with me this weekend so I can impress you with all the things I know? We'll go out to lunch after."

Courfeyrac's nose scrunches up in amusement. "We were going to do that anyway, you nerd."

"But it'll be a _date_ this time," Combeferre replies, widening his eyes. "You know what that means."

"An extra half-hour in front of the mirror, making sure my hair's perfect," Courfeyrac sighs, nodding sombrely. "Maybe sneaky kisses in front of exhibits?"

Combeferre grins. "Exactly. We could even hold hands. I could even introduce you to my volunteer friends as my boyfriend."

Hiding his face against Combeferre's shoulder, Courfeyrac laughs. "Fuck, I shouldn't be as excited about this as I am."

"So I guess your jealousy idea kind of worked in the end after all," Combeferre hums.

"It wasn't my idea," Courfeyrac replies. "I was complaining to Enjolras about how I wasn't getting anywhere closer to talking to you about my feelings and he was thinking about how he wanted to make a move on Grantaire, so…"

"Grantaire didn't even consider that Enjolras was trying to make him jealous," Combeferre snorts. "I don't think that was something he would ever have considered."

"I told him that and he wouldn't listen." Courfeyrac sighs. "At least they ended up talking anyway. I still don't know if you made Enjolras jealous on purpose or if it was unintentional, but that was very well done."

Combeferre laughs quietly. "I wish I could take all the credit for it, but it was a bit of both, really."

"Either way." Courfeyrac kisses him on the cheek. "You did good." 

Smiling fondly, Combeferre kisses Courfeyrac's forehead in return. "I think so too."

**Author's Note:**

> Come and join the [valentines giveaway](http://kiyala.tumblr.com/post/109753702916) on tumblr!


End file.
